The last time we in Toronto voted for school trustee, city councillor and mayor was 2022. 29% of eligible voters cast a vote in that election.
When John Tory resigned a year later, 37% of eligible voters cast a vote in the byelection. That's an improvement, but still awfully low. Why do about 2/3rds of eligible voters skip our municipal elections?
It couldn't be more convenient. I voted yesterday and was in and out in a couple of minutes. The kids were even engaged, voting for their favourite tree. Advance voting continues today until 7pm.
Most people will vote on Election Day, October 26, when you can cast a vote from 10am until 8pm. There is an excitement around voting on the big day, but when I've been sure of my vote, I've always done it on an advance voting day, to cross it off my to-do list.
Of course, if you're unable to vote in-person, you can always cast your ballot by mail. In my humble opinion, this city has made it very easy vote, yet the majority of Torontonians won't bother.
If seven out of ten eligible Torontonians don't vote in a municipal election, is that a failure of the voters, the candidates, the media, or the political system itself? Ed Keenan from The Toronto Star joins me on October 22 to discuss this and more.
